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The Gospel for Those Who Lovehttps://missfeminista.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/the-gospel-for-those-who-love/
https://missfeminista.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/the-gospel-for-those-who-love/#respondFri, 16 May 2014 00:50:16 +0000http://missfeminista.wordpress.com/?p=202[This was a creative writing assignment in a course on the synoptic gospels that I [Colleen Ryan] took during the 2013 fall semester with Dr. Kelly Wilson. Students were asked to write a 5-6 page gospel from a particular point of view and to a particular audience. I’m not particularly religious, but if I was this is the type of religion I’d be drawn to. I chose to write a gospel for an LGBT audience. After the course, the professor and I worked on refining the message so that it could be shared with others. Here’s the final product. -Colleen Ryan]

In the beginning was love, and love was with God, and love was God. Love was in the beginning with God. In the spirit of that love, many couples began planning their nuptials, including Mary and Addison. Mary and Addison had been in love for over twenty-five years but never had the legal option of getting married until same-sex marriage was made legal in Minnesota. For the couple, walking down the aisle was not only a legal victory, but a personal one as well. About fifteen years before the wedding, Mary discovered she was pregnant; when Addison heard the news, she was ready to end the relationship and dismiss her quietly. That night, lying awake in her hotel room, Addison heard God’s voice. God informed Addison that Mary had been chosen by her to bear a son. God instructed Addison to name their son Jesus. The next day she returned to support the woman she loved.

Nine months later, while traveling in Florida, Mary went into labor. They immediately drove to the nearest hospital where they encountered hostility from the medical staff. The ER nurse told them the hospital did not treat their kind here. They left and encountered a nun who invited them back to her convent. Mary gave birth to a baby boy, named him Jesus, and raised him with the love of her life, Addison. Fast forward to September 2013, on a beautiful fall afternoon, Jesus was overjoyed to see the legal wedding of his two mothers in Minnesota.

In the months leading up to the statewide legalization of same-sex marriage, there were widespread protests citing its harmful effects it would have on traditional marriage. For the first time in Jesus’ life, he began hearing that his mothers were a detriment to society, children, and the institution of marriage. He heard that their marriage would threaten existing marriages between a man and a woman. Jesus was shocked and thought, “If only those people knew my moms, they would not say those things.” He took note of these protesters and tried to understand their motives. Seeing the pain they caused his moms, he realized his mission was to bring the message of love, compassion, and inclusivity to all.

After graduating from high school in Minnesota, Jesus ventured east to Georgetown University; he would study political science to help elect political candidates that supported same-sex marriage and equality for LGBT Americans. As the semester progressed, his roommate, Nathan, confessed he was struggling with his sexuality. While Nathan had always supported the LGBT community, he was angry and bitter once he realized that he, himself, was a gay man. He told Jesus that he did not believe he deserved to be happy and feared revealing this closely guarded secret to family and friends. Nathan continued to voice his frustrations about his sexuality, his fear of being rejected, and his desire to remain in the closet where he could hide from others and himself. He confessed he had turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism; he would get drunk to quiet the storm inside his head. Nathan admitted that even just saying the words “I’m gay” aloud still struck fear and shame in his heart.

As Jesus listened to Nathan, he remembered Claire, his friend from high school. He shared with Nathan her story of being mercilessly bullied and verbally abused to the point of wanting to commit suicide and how her friends lovingly reached out to her and helped her speak her truth without shame. He turned to Nathan, grabbed his hands, and said, “Nathan, what Claire realized, and what you will realize someday, is that your sexuality is a gift from God—you are made by God, and God doesn’t make mistakes.” Tears began to stream down Nathan’s face. “Will it ever get better?” he asked Jesus. “Nathan,” Jesus said, “both of my moms struggled to accept themselves when they were younger; they struggled with being open about their relationship, and look at them now. It will get better. You deserve to love and be loved by another, and I cannot wait to meet the man you want to spend the rest of your life with.” Nathan cracked a smile. “I’m serious,” Jesus said. Jesus’ compassion and acceptance led to Nathan becoming his first disciple. Nathan dropped his fear and self-hatred and followed Jesus. Throughout college, Jesus became friends with other gays, lesbians, and transgender students, along with straight allies, feminists, and religious classmates. This core group of diverse young acolytes would follow him beyond college, as his disciples, to help him promote his message of acceptance and love to all Americans.

As marriage equality legislation moved at a furious pace in state legislatures across the country, Jesus and his disciples traveled to Chicago to witness the first day of legal same-sex marriage in Illinois. When they arrived at city hall, they noticed people from the National Organization for Marriage, One Million Moms, the Family Research Council and other organizations picketing with signs that read “One Man + One Woman = Marriage,” “Marriage should be reinforced not redefined,” but the one that caught Jesus’ eye read, “Children need a mom and a dad.” He pointed it out to his moms and grabbed their hands. Others, standing in support of marriage equality carried signs that read “Love is Love,” “Gay Rights are Human Rights/Human Rights are Gay Rights,” and “Proud Child of Two Dads.”

As Jesus walked up the steps of city hall, some of the protesters shouted to Jesus, “This violates the natural order; God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve.” They expected Jesus to take up a sign in protest and stand alongside of them; instead, Jesus escorted loving and excited couples into city hall. When the protesters accused Jesus of supporting the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, he stopped, turned around at the top of the steps, and said, “You have heard it said that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of homosexuality, but I say to you, that story is about gang rape and a violation of ancient hospitality codes. It’s ironic, don’t you think, that your inhospitality of homosexuals is actually the sin of Sodom.” Being overcome with the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus continued, “You have heard it said, ‘If a man lies with a male as with a woman, they have committed an abomination,’ but I say to you, do you not understand that this same book tells you that eating shellfish and pork and trimming your beards is an abomination? You have heard it said, ‘Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another,’ but I say to you, Paul was writing to a completely different culture and had no concept of sexual orientation and therefore has a limited view of humans. We’ve learned a lot in the last 2,000 years, not only about humans but also about the world. Did you know that people argued that the sun revolved around the world because the Bible suggested that the earth is fixed?” A protestor shouted from the group, “It seems like you are picking and choosing from the Bible, Jesus.” Jesus replied, “You are correct, and so do you. Deuteronomy 21 says you should stone your children for disobeying you. Do you? 1 Peter 3 says you should not wear jewelry. Do you obey this? Deuteronomy 22 says that if a man rapes a woman then he must marry her. Do you agree? Matthew 19 suggests that you should sell all you have and give to the poor. Have you done this?”

Then Jesus gestured to the whole crowd and loudly proclaimed so that even those at the foot of the steps could hear, “After God created the first person, God stated, ‘It is not good for the human to be alone.’ Why, I ask, do you think LGBT people should be condemned to a life of loneliness because they do not love whom you think they should? Do you really think that the God who liberates people out of slavery in Egypt wants people enslaved to the confines of the closet? I say to you love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.” The crowd was stunned because Jesus was teaching with authority and compassion.

One day, when Jesus was visiting the sick in a Catholic hospital in Alabama, he came across a man dying of AIDS. The man’s partner of 30 years was denied access to his bedside. When Jesus questioned the hospital about this lack of compassion, the staff told him the man had committed a mortal sin. They brought Jesus to the man in order that he might pray for him. When Jesus entered the room and began to pray, the frail man opened his eyes. The man said, “I have not lived an especially religious life. I have not attended church in years, and at times have wavered in my beliefs.” The hospital staff rolled their eyes and groaned in a manner that revealed their obvious disgust. Jesus silenced the staff, looked at the man, and said, “My son, many have rejected you in the name of religion; therefore, it does not shock me that you have not found a home in church. These people around me want to judge you. In you they do not see a human being; they see a sexual act. They are misguided.” The man took Jesus’ hand, “My whole life I have been told by Christians that I am a sinner. Do you agree?” Jesus responded, “All people are sinners, my son, but you are not a sinner for loving and being loved by that man in the hallway. A wise man once said, ‘If you are pursuing God, who am I to judge?’ and I agree with him. Love God, and love that man in the hallway.” Jesus then instructed the hospital staff to allow this man’s partner to visit him. The staff, after witnessing his compassion, obeyed. Seeing Jesus’ understanding of his love for his partner, the man’s pain and suffering from the disease ceased. When the man touched his partner’s hand, tears streamed down both of their faces, and the staff truly saw the men for the first time and were able to witness their love.

After Jesus left the hospital, he asked his disciple Meredith what people were saying about him. Meredith said many believed he would become president and end suffering for LGBT people; others believed he was an activist bringing an end to the evil age of homophobia and transphobia. Jesus then asked Meredith, “Who do you say I am?” Meredith replied, “You are the messiah working to restore values of love, compassion, and inclusion to the country.” Jesus replied, “You are correct. This is not accomplished until every single LGBT person both young and old knows that they are a gift to the world and they deserve to love and be loved. This does not happen overnight. I will suffer, as will many of you. Hear me, love will conquer hate. But this does not happen by calling people bigots and engaging in heated debates; rather, we will overpower it with love. If a coworker calls you a fag, tell him he is acting out of fear. If a classmate calls you a dyke, remind her that she is created for a better purpose than dehumanizing her neighbors. If people work to strip you of your basic human rights, remind them of your humanity by treating them with respect.”

While he was traveling the country, those who did not accept LGBT people felt the growing threat of Jesus’ social and political engagement. When Jesus worked in Texas with the It Gets Better Project promoting acceptance among LGBT teens, a teen was bullied to the point of committing suicide. Enemies of Jesus conspired with law enforcement to frame him for the murder, and charge him with a capital offense. He was found guilty and was condemned to death after the jury was stacked with individuals who found him to be a growing threat.

On the evening he was scheduled to die, his disciples were unsuccessful in preventing the inevitable. After the Texas Supreme Court refused to grant a stay and the governor failed to grant clemency, despite pleas from both sides of the aisle, Jesus, his mothers, and his disciples gathered at the penitentiary for his last meal. As they sat down to eat, Jesus invited his prison guards to the meal. He took the bread, gave thanks, then gave it to his disciples, his moms, and his prison guards, and said, “Take this and eat. It is my body, which I will give up for you.” He then did the same with the wine. “This is my blood, which I will pour out for you and the many like you who have been oppressed for far too long. Do not ever turn people away from this table, for you know what it feels like to be turned away. This table should be a hallmark of inclusion. Other places will build walls to keep people out, but I say to you, make a meal and invite people in.”

When the clock struck midnight Jesus was escorted to the room where he would be put to death. As he was being strapped down to the table, the executioner prepared the syringes with the drug cocktail that would end his life. As this process was being completed, Jesus uttered his last words to his mothers, who were on their knees in tears. He said, “Forgive them, mothers, for they do not know what they’re doing.” Then, he turned his head to the crowd, and declared, “I’ll be with you always. Whenever you see love, compassion, and inclusion, I am there in your midst.” The executioner plunged the needle into his vein. With this, at 12:05 a.m., Jesus breathed his last.

His mothers and disciples left the prison together and drove home in utter silence. When they turned onto their street, Emmaus Road, they noticed that pastors, rabbis, imams, and over five hundred people had gathered alongside their street with candles singing, “We Are Called.” Remembering Jesus’ words from the table, his mothers knew their son was alive.

“We are Called”

Song by David Haas,

Verse 1: “Come! Live in the light! Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord! We are called to be light for the kingdom, to live in the freedom of the city of God!

Refrain: We are called to act with justice. We are called to love tenderly. We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

Verse 2: Come! Open your heart! Show your mercy to all those in fear! We are called to be hope for the hopeless, so all hatred and blindness will be no more!

Verse 3: Sing! Sing a new song! Sing of that great day when all will be one! God will reign and we’ll walk with each other as sisters and brothers united in love!